ABSTRACT
The first day of rehearsals will be different from all others. This is the first time that all the company will have met together and is often the only time that many of the peripheral members, such as the production manager or lighting designer, will meet with the whole company before the technical rehearsal. The creation of a devised piece from scratch will usually begin with a workshop to explore ideas and themes; indeed the whole rehearsal process may take on the feel of a workshop, particularly if the piece is to be purely physical in nature. It is common for a workshop phase to take place before the main rehearsal period begins, sometimes with a gap of several weeks. Directors traditionally start rehearsing by ‘blocking’ a play, which involves working through the play scene by scene deciding where and how the characters are going to move.
